PAST AND PRESENT OF WORKING CLASS FORMATION IN TURKEY: A CASE STUDY ON NAZILLI
Project no. 840 · Status: Kapanmış · 2017
Summary
Nazilli Textile Factory stands to be one of the most important outcomes of industrialization policies enacted within the developmental framework of the early republican era. The construction process started in 1935 by Sumerbank, which itself was found in 1933 as the state agent to finance several development projects, and production in Nazilli began in 1937. From the time it was found in 1935 and until the time it stopped production in 2003, the factory had a direct impact on the socio-economic structure of Nazilli. The purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of early republican era development and industrialization policies on working class formation. This impact mainly shows itself in the form of proletarianization, urbanization, the emergence of class consciousness and finally in unionization processes. Outside of these main lines, reflections of a working-class culture in matters of everyday life is another indicator of social change traced in this study. For the purpose of analyzing these variables, archival data and secondary sources have been reviewed to expose the production capacity, the number of workers, wage rates, and capitalization indicators. However, the most significant methodological contribution of this research is the data from oral history conducted with people who worked at the factory. In the light of these findings, the broad conclusion derived from the research is that although the factory leads to major social and economic transformations in line with the developmental understanding of the early republican era, the lack of sustainability and stability of economic policy prevents these transformation from becoming structural features.